


Turn you inside out

by Lania



Series: Reaper76 Week [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: (but only mild), Bodyswap, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, blind!Soldier76, reaper76week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-18 00:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9352358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lania/pseuds/Lania
Summary: Jack and Gabriel switch bodies and come to some realizations about each other.Filled for the day two prompt for Reaper76Week "In His Shoes" - Role/Body Swapping





	

**Author's Note:**

> You can find the Reaper76 Week post here:  
> http://reaper-76-week.tumblr.com/post/153242313721/the-dates-are-set-the-themes-have-been-decided

Jack wasn't sure how it happened.  
One moment, he and Reaper were fighting, dodging bullets and punches while trying to land a solid hit. It must've happened when Gabriel charged at him, but instead of hitting him full force, he phased right through him. Jack must have blacked out because the next thing he remembered was waking up lying face down on the floor and his whole body _ached_. 

Groaning, Jack tried to get up, but his balance was off and something was wrong with his eyes – or rather his visor. His sight was no longer tinged red and it took him a moment to realize that his visor was not malfunctioning, but that he was actually _seeing_. 

And what he saw made his insides churn uncomfortably.  
As he turned around to look at his surroundings, he saw himself slowly regaining consciousness. It was unmistakably him. He knew the leather jacket, the hair, everything. His gaze shot down his own body, just that it wasn't his own. He instantly recognized the large black overcoat and the claws attached to his gloves. This was Gabriel's body. Something was terribly wrong.  
Jack watched as Gabriel picked himself up from the floor and he seemed disoriented as he looked around. Then their eyes met. 

“What the-?!”, Gabriel gasped and his eyes shot down his body, probably coming to the same conclusion as Jack. “What the hell happened?” 

“I don't know-- _ugh_!” 

Suddenly, a wave of pain came crashing down on Jack, forcing him to his knees. He felt like his whole body was shaking apart, literally disintegrating. Black smoke started to rise from his arms and hands while Jack watched them in horror.  
Gabriel rushed to him, stumbling slightly with the unfamiliar weight and grabbed his shoulders.

“You have to concentrate on your body”, he said. Jack hissed through his teeth and felt smoke pour out alongside his breath. 

“Easier said than done.”

“Trust me, I know”, Gabriel said and squeezed his shoulders as he tried to ground him. 

Jack tried to breathe through the pain and did his best to keep this body together.  
Eventually, the pain subsided. All that was left was the ache he had felt before and the need to get fresh air into his lungs. He reached up to his - Reaper's – mask, fumbling for a latch. 

“I don't know how you can stand wearing this mask”, Jack said when he pulled the owl-like mask off his face. “It's suffocating.” Gabriel's voice sounded wrong coming out of his own mouth. 

“I don't know how you can see with this damn thing on”, Gabriel said, searched for the opening mechanism on the visor and took it off. He blinked once. Twice. Then realization seemed to hit him. 

“Jack”, he breathed. “You're blind.”

A painful smile formed itself on Jack's face as he saw himself clearly for the first time in years. He looked terrible. 

“Yeah. Have been ever since Zurich.”

Gabriel looked around with unfocused eyes, his brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything.

“Is your body always hurting like this?”, Jack asked softly and Gabriel turned back to him. 

“Yes”, Gabriel said. “Ever since Angela brought me back to life.” 

Jack closed his eyes for a moment. A mix of emotions washed over him and he tried his best not to get overwhelmed by them. He was grateful to have Gabriel alive, but the fact that he was always hurting made him furious, too. 

“So you _did_ die”, he said eventually. “I was actually terrified that I had left you alive, even though I was _sure_...!“ Jack took a deep breath before he continued. “I crawled over to you through the rubble. I felt no pulse and I tried to revive you, but you--”  
He broke off, his eyes burning. Gabriel reached out to him, his hand bumping into Jack's shoulder, moving up to grab him by the side of his face. 

“You couldn't save me, Jack. I was dead the moment I hit the floor. If it wasn't for Angela, I'd still be.” He sighed. “I thought you were dead, too.”

Jack felt his heart clench in his chest as he watched his own face twist painfully.

“I was ready to tear everything down, destroy everything, just to make them pay for what they had done to you. To us. Then I found out you were very much alive and--” 

“And you got pissed at me”, Jack finished and chuckled. “Yeah, I remember that fight.” 

“Well, you'd be pissed, too”, Gabriel said. 

“Oh, trust me, I am”, Jack replied and he felt black smoke pouring out of his body again. “Not at you, though. Never at you.” 

“We gotta take care of this body thing as soon as possible”, Gabriel said suddenly.

“What, already tired of not seeing your own face?”, Jack joked, but Gabriel threw him a look that Jack didn't know his face was capable of. 

“I can't kiss myself, _estúpido_. That's just weird.”


End file.
